A Doomed Child

In January 2013, we took in two sisters in the Mansfield area.

A was 7 and E was 4 years old.

They were being raised by a single mother who had made and was making poor decisions about her boyfriends.

Although I had heard rumors about the two sisters having had very bad experiences, they both were very well behaved, cheerful and playful children for most of the time we had them.

Even though A was getting a little too big to be carried, she often wanted me to carry her like I did for her younger sister.

We had them for almost a year when a very disturbing incident took place.

One Saturday morning, we were at the McDonalds in Mansfield and all the children were playing in the indoor playground area.

I heard a scream of pain from the slide area and ran to see what happened. A slid out of the slide first and had a defiant look on her face like she had gotten away with something wrong. Then her sister E came out, crying and holding her crotch area. Her own sister had molested her.

I had one of the adults with me look after the other children while I drove A and E to their mother. I explained to the mother what had happened and also told the mother that I could not take the sisters with us anymore… the counseling and help that they needed was far outside my competence. I suggested a couple Christian sources.

One of the rumors that I had heard was that the 7-year-old had been repeatedly molested by one or more of the mother’s boyfriends.

The mother was crying as I left. I felt bad for all three… it is a terrible thing to see a 7-year-old child as a doomed person… however, with God, all things are possible, and I often think of and pray for those two children